FIFA World Cup: The controversies

In this episode, we hear what women thought about the World Cup in Qatar, and how women's rights and perspectives were largely absent from the coverage it. Nearly 40 percent of football fans globally are female, yet female athletes and fans continue to face enormous barriers in the game, their households, and communities. We hear from Yousra Samir Imran (Author of 'Hijab and Red Lipstick') about her experience with the guardianship system, along with Qatari artist Ghada Al Khater, and Human Rights Watch researcher Rothna Begum

In this episode, we speak to a Qatari artist about her take on the ‘OneLove’ campaign, and why so many people want athletes and fans to take a stand at Qatar 2022. We also speak to Marc Owen Jones about caricatures used in the media to describe the first World Cup in the Middle East, and Abdulla Al-Arian (Editor of ‘Football in the Middle East, State, Society, and the Beautiful Game’) about the colonial legacy of the sport.

It was always a controversial choice for critics who’ve spent years saying the World Cup should’ve never been awarded to a conservative country smaller than Sydney. But whether you like it or not, the greatest show on earth is in Qatar, for the first time in the Middle East. On this podcast, we’ll tackle issues off-the-field that people can’t stop talking about, and others you may not be across.